What You Don't Know
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day two hundred and fifty-three: Joe only expected to see his father in the hospital. Instead he meets a familiar-looking blonde. Companion to "Vigil For Joseph"


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th cycle. Now cycle 13!_

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**"What You Don't Know"  
Brittany & Joe (OC)  
Companion to "Vigil For Joseph" and also "I don't want to talk"  
Tie-in to the Sylvesters series**

He had gotten the call, and it had made him pause. Joe had not spoken to his father in… almost twenty years. He wouldn't think he would have still been on his emergency contact… But then they had called. He ran it over in his mind, and he couldn't see his father asking for him. They would have called him, they hospital, solely because he was on that list. If he showed up there, how would his father react? After their falling out, it had taken years before he felt he'd grown to a place where he might consider speaking to him again… Still he'd let the years pass… then the phone.

He'd made the decision, after he'd checked on things at home, he'd gotten into his car and driven down to the hospital. With directions from a nurse, he'd made his way to his father's room. He stopped at the door when he saw him, lying in the bed.

He'd aged, of course… It'd been nearly two decades. Still, he looked pretty well, if not for his present state.

It was as he'd come further into the room that he'd seen they weren't alone. There was a teenage girl, sitting on a chair by the bed. She was asleep, just barely, but he could see she was wearing a cheerleader's uniform. Maybe she was part of some service, volunteer work of some sort, come to stay by his dad's side in case he woke and was alone… if Joe hadn't shown up.

Not wanting to wake the blonde, he'd taken a seat on the opposite side of the bed. He sat, and he watched his unconscious father, and he thought. Maybe this was a sign, that it was time things changed. His father had never met Charlotte, his wife of fourteen years. He'd never met his granddaughters either. Now Catherine was twelve, and Isabelle was seven. Cat was as shy as her mother, loved to draw, and Izzy… well, she was just a ball of energy, and she played soccer. He knew if his father met them, he'd love them; he'd always wanted a granddaughter.

After a while he'd gotten up to go find a doctor or nurse, remembering he still had no idea what had happened to land his father at the hospital. He was at the door when he heard a noise. He turned back, thinking his father was waking up. Instead he saw the blonde had woken up. Now that her face wasn't lying on her knees, he could see… It was strange how familiar she seemed.

"Are you a doctor?" she asked, bowing her head back down for a moment, so to hide a yawn.

"No, just a visitor," he explained, remaining at the door. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Brittany," she declared, still trying to get herself good and awake. She looked over to the bed. "He's not awake yet," she sounded slightly defeated at that. It was there that his theory as to why she was there fell through. He took a step forward.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he told her, growing quiet as he watched her watching Joseph… She was worried, terrified, and the pieces started falling clumsily into place. "How do you… How…" He was having a lot of trouble finding how to formulate the question, and the more she stared at him, the more evident it felt… Of course she looked familiar; she looked so much like Cat and Izzy… But then…" Is he a… friend?" He finally asked.

"Yes," the girl nodded, and Joe was surprised; it had all fit a moment ago, but now… "He's so much more than just a grandfather," she smiled as she looked back to Joseph. She missed the look on Joe's face, as he understood… Yes, she was his daughter, had to be… He was an only child. But then her mother…

"Are you here by yourself?" he asked. She gave a nod.

"My mother didn't believe there was anything wrong. He missed his call… He never misses his calls," she looked back to the man in the bed and, seeing the worship in her eyes, he knew his father must have been a great part of the girl's life… even he hadn't told him about his daughter? Right then, he could vaguely remember a moment, not quite ten years before, where he'd seen… her… and there'd been this pause, like she'd wanted to tell him something and then hadn't… Had that been what she'd wanted to say? Could he have known all this time if he…

"S… Your mother, that's… Sue Sylvester, right?" he asked. She looked up, surprised. After a moment, she nodded. He couldn't stay, it was too much all at once. He reached in his pocket. "Can you do something for me?" he asked, walking around to her side of the bed as he pulled out a card. "If he wakes up, will you please call?" She took the card with a nod. For a second or so he stood there and watched her… He couldn't help it. Eventually he had thanked her and he'd left.

He'd managed to speak to a doctor on his way out, but afterward he'd gone straight home. He'd told Charlotte, told her everything, about this daughter he was just finding out about.

Brittany called late the next night, telling him Joseph was awake. He wanted to go back to the hospital, for his father and for his daughter. He wanted her to know who he was, wanted to get to know her if he could. He wasn't sure what Sue had told her about him, but he had to believe she wouldn't have badmouthed him.

He'd debated bringing the girls along with him, but then it might have been too much at once for them, Brittany and his dad. So for this time, he'd only bring himself.

Arriving back to the hospital, to the room, he could hear them talking, Brittany very animatedly so. Looking in, he could see all that he'd missed, all that his father had been in his place… Maybe he shouldn't disturb that.

After a moment, he'd walked past the room… Part of him said 'go, leave them be' but the other still wanted to go inside with them and…

"You're back," he turned and found Brittany, standing just outside the door. He watched as she stepped up closer to him. He breathed out. "Is he a friend?" she asked the same question he had.

"He's… He used to be… He's my father." He watched her connect the dots in her mind… and then she smiled… He couldn't imagine he'd almost walked away a minute before.

THE END


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